Caretaker
by kryptofan974
Summary: When Natsumi falls out of a tree and injures herself while saving Koyuki, the ninja girl takes care of her while discovering her feelings for Natsumi more. A pretty short yuri romance oneshot, rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Hey everyone! Lizard here x3**

**While the seventh chapter for A Little Comfort is being made, I created a new fanfiction oneshot for a different anime; Sgt Frog! (Since I am so obsessed with it right now XD) **

**It focuses on Koyuki and Natsumi's relationship a little (since there aren't too many KoyukixNatsumi stories out there Dx) and I love this pairing to death XD (other than GiroroxNatsumi) **

**This was originally going to be a comic idea (still is) and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

><p>A light breeze swept over the town, whistling faintly as it traveled and rustled the green summer leaves. The town was silent on that hot summer day; without a soul wandering the smoothly paved streets. Natsumi jogged along said streets, glancing at her wristwatch from time to time as her pace unevenly picked up and slowed down. Her pink hair gently blew backward from the wind, and as she tucked a lock of it behind her ear, she breathed,<p>

"I hope I'm not too late. She never gets mad about those kinds of things usually, but even so…"

Natsumi suddenly squeaked as she stumbled over a risen ledge on the pavement. She caught herself thankfully and sighed, dusting and straightening out her light blue skirt and her white T-shirt. She took a deep breath afterward and went to start running again when a rustling overhead caused her to stop and look up.

There didn't seem to be anything up in the dark yet shiny green leaves at first glance. Plus, the tree was so tall that Natsumi could hardly see anything other than a mass of green at the top. She waited, holding her breath to see if the noise once again breached her eardrums. Yet, all that Natsumi could hear was the soft summer wind, and the ringing silence in her ears. After a while, Natsumi shrugged and began to jog again but the noise came back, this time it was louder than the last. Natsumi looked back, then ran back to the tree, and stared up at the foliage atop the trunk. This time, the rustling didn't end and the mass of green began to shake atop the tree.

Suddenly, a head popped out from the mass and made Natsumi shriek and jump nearly a foot in the air. When she looked at it again, she recognized the head of her best friend, Koyuki. The dark-blue haired girl was wearing her light blue goggles, a pink bow in her hair that tied it back, and her dark gray-and-white ninja uniform that had a pink belt around it; however, all Natsumi could see at the moment was her smiling face.

Natsumi sighed, "There you are. You scared me half to death, y'know that?"

Koyuki giggled, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. The call of the ninja was too strong for me," she laughed at the statement. "And besides, you were cute when you looked all frightened like that"

Natsumi laughed nervously, feeling her face start to heat up. Koyuki had a crush on Natsumi, and it wasn't hidden either. Natsumi knew all about it, but she felt really awkward when it came up, and didn't know how to react to her best friend. For now, Natsumi pushed the topic aside and yelled up at her, "I was just going to see if you were at the mall yet! How are you going to get down?"

Koyuki's mouth twisted into a cunning smirk, "No worries. A ninja always knows how to get down from high places," and with that, her head disappeared amongst the greenery again. Natsumi once again chuckled nervously and then waited a few seconds before she walked to the trunk of the tree, gained footing on the bark and began to climb up. Koyuki once again stuck her head out and told her worriedly, "Be careful, Natsumi! You could fall!"

Natsumi, shaking a little from nervousness, took a deep breath and called back, "I'll be okay!" She made a mental note to not look down from where she was.

Finally, after a few minutes of tree-climbing, Natsumi grabbed onto the nearest branch to her and struggled to pull herself up. Koyuki, who was sitting on a branch a little ways away from her, grabbed her arm and helped her up onto another branch. Natsumi sighed and murmured, "Thanks Koyuki"

Koyuki smiled again and replied, "No problem!" She glanced down at the ground through the leaves for a few minutes, then looked upward at the sunlight filtering in through the wall of foliage.

"The view is great up here, isn't it?" she asked Natsumi. The pink haired girl was too terrified to look downward, so she looked out at the horizon like Koyuki was doing. The scene through the tree was so pretty and ad seeing it made her grin from ear to ear.

"Yes, it is. So beautiful" she replied dreamily, captivated by the view. Koyuki giggled, and found her sight traveled from the horizon to Natsumi. She couldn't take her eyes off her best friend no matter how hard she tried. Koyuki stared at Natsumi's face; her eyes glimmered in the sunlight, full of happiness and awe; her cheeks were tinted a light pink, the color of the cherry blossoms that scatter in the wind during spring; Natsumi's hair was also cast in a blanket of sparkles from the sunlight. Koyuki felt her heart perform somersaults in her chest and her own cheeks turn red as she gazed at her friend. Natsumi blinked and then looked back at Koyuki, cocking her head to the side.

"Koyuki, you okay?"

Natsumi's sweet voice snapped her from her trance. "Hmm?"

"You were staring off into space. Is everything okay?"

It took Koyuki a while to realize what she meant, and when it did come to her, she blushed, her face redder than an apple.

"Oh! Y-yeah! I'm okay! J-J-Just thinking, that's all" she stuttered as her tone became more and more flustered with each word. Natsumi smiled awkwardly and giggled, "Good. I was afraid you were sick or something. I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to you"

Koyuki's body suddenly heated up, and she pawed at the bark on the branch nervously, "O-oh…um th-thank you…I uh…"

She desperately thought of something to say and in the end, she cleared her throat and murmured, "Well, uh, should be head to the mall now?"

Natsumi chuckled and nodded, "Sure"

Koyuki nodded, avoiding Natsumi's gaze before she could get any more flustered than she already was. She began to stand up, balancing on the branch, and her right foot was just about to land when suddenly, she miscalculated where the branch was. Her foot slipped and she lost her balance, falling off the branch with a shriek.

Natsumi gasped and jumped off her branch, desperately hoping to catch Koyuki before she hit the ground.

"KOYUKI!" she screamed, opening her arms wide as she gained on Koyuki. At that moment, it seemed as though time began to slow down for Natsumi. She saw everything in a play-by-play format, with the only background noise being her heart thumping loudly. The wind was in her favor as she caught up with Koyuki, and she opened her arms out and then grabbed Koyuki's small body with them, tightly enveloping her in a warm embrace. Then Natsumi cunningly twisted their bodies around, so that Natsumi was under Koyuki, and was heading to hit the ground first. Natsumi shut her eyes and held Koyuki closer as she readied herself for the impact.

The two girls landed on the ground with a "thud!"; Natsumi's head colliding with the land hard. They laid there, the both of them very still. Natsumi still had her arms around Koyuki protectively, although her grip had slackened. Since the street was so deserted, there was no one available to help them.

Moments past before Koyuki opened her eyes slowly and blinked rapidly. She sat up carefully, looking around and scratched her head. She glanced up at the tree and then whispered, "Whoa…"

She then hurriedly looked herself over, checking for any cuts, broken bones or bruises. There seemed to be none and she sighed happily, "Whew! That was a close call, eh Natsumi?"

There was no response. Koyuki whipped her head around and saw Natsumi lying beside her, unconscious. Her heart jolted with terror.

"Natsumi?" She asked frightfully. Once again, there was no answer from the girl. Koyuki shifted herself so that she was kneeling beside Natsumi, and she got a better look at her. Her best friend was lying on her right side, her right arm tucked underneath her and bent at an unnatural angle. The sight of it sent waves of nausea through Koyuki and she had to look away from a second before it passed. Her left arm was totally fine and showed no signs of damage, as did both her legs. However, Koyuki knew that just because they looked fine didn't mean that there was not any damage. Koyuki's eyes traveled from her legs to Natsumi's head and Koyuki's stomach lurched; Natsumi's head was bleeding, a puddle of dark red blood forming underneath it on the shadowy green grass. Though only a little was visible on her forehead and on her cheek from the pool beneath, Koyuki realized that Natsumi must've hit her head hard for it to bleed so excessively and that the wound was on the back of her head.

Now Koyuki started to panic. She gently laid a hand on Natsumi's shoulder and began to shake her.

"N-Natsumi…wake up…"

No answer or reaction.

"Come on Natsumi…! Wake up!"

Again, no response.

Koyuki felt her voice tremble as she shouted, "Wake up!"

Through her unconsciousness, Natsumi must've heard Koyuki's voice, for her eyelids fluttered a bit before her eyes opened slightly. Her vision was clouded yet she could spot the ninja girl through the fog. She swallowed and weakly replied, "K…Koyuki…?"

The ninja sighed and began to shake with relief. "N-Natsumi…are you okay…?"

Natsumi's breathing became irregular as she prepared herself to speak; "N-No…everything h-hurts…" she whimpered, her eyebrows bunching up in discomfort. Koyuki bit her lip and felt the last shred of hope she had plummet. She took hold of Natsumi's shoulder again and warned, "Natsumi, I'm going to flip you over and check you for injuries…" Koyuki swallowed hard and shakily yet delicately adjusted Natsumi's body so she was lying on her back. Koyuki was careful to support her head most of all as she moved her, worried that her neck or back may have been broken or injured from the fall. Natsumi cried out in pain as she was moved. She shut her eyes tight, but that could not stop the pale blue tears from leaking out and dripping down her cheeks. Koyuki felt her own eyes well up but fought the tears back for the sake of Natsumi.

_I have to keep her calm…_, Koyuki thought, running her hand over Natsumi's legs gently. From what she saw, both her right and her left leg did not seem damaged, so she concluded that her legs were fine. Koyuki bit her lip when her eyes rested on the twisted arm, and she purposely skipped checking it since it was unnecessary; she knew it was broken. So she went to the left arm, and checked Natsumi's ankles as well. Koyuki gently adjusted Natsumi's feet so that the ankles were not twisted at any bad angle that could cause her discomfort; Natsumi grimaced and groaned through clenched teeth, yet Koyuki could not feel anything significantly broken; she guessed it was either fractured or bruised. Her left arm and left ankle were fine, and from there, Koyuki blushed as she gently poked Natsumi's ribs, to which Natsumi let out a pained shriek that made Koyuki jump and recoil. The ninja let out a shaky sigh and took out the handkerchief in her pocket and began to lightly wipe the blood from Natsumi's forehead and she spoke softly to her.

"Natsumi…y-you're badly hurt…I'm going to take you back to my house, okay?"

Natsumi was hardly conscious but could faintly hear the echoing voice of Koyuki as she spoke, and as she felt the delicate silk handkerchief on her forehead, she nodded slightly. Her eyes began to droop and she uttered a soft, "I'm sorry…" before everything started to fade away. Though she could not see anything, she could hear the panic in Koyuki's response.

"Natsumi! No! Stay awake! Natsumi!"

And it echoed in her head as everything went black.

* * *

><p>"How is she….?"<p>

"She's doing okay…didn't lose too much blood…back and neck aren't broken either…possibility that she needs to go to the hospital…"

"Did you treat her…?"

"Yes…I wrapped…her arm, ankle and head in bandages…gave her medicine…but that's all I can do…"

Natsumi tried to tune in to hear the discussion going on between the two familiar voices, but she kept fading in and out, only being able to catch a few fragments of the conversation. She was beginning to come out of the fog, and with that, she began to hear everything clearly.

"You've done all that you could Koyuki. Now we just need to see if she wakes up…"

Natsumi heard a sniffle immediately after the sentence was finished. She recognized the voice of Koyuki and thought, _Koyuki…is…she crying…?_

"But…but what if she's badly concussed…? What if we're too late to bring her to the hospital if she has a major head injury?"

"Koyuki calm down, everything is going to be okay…"

The crying became even louder. "Natsumi…please….please be okay…"

Natsumi felt her heart break as she heard her best friend crying. And it was because she was worried about her. That touched Natsumi deeply; she wanted to tell Koyuki everything was okay, that she was going to be fine, and that she was thankful for what she had done for her. The pink haired girl struggled to open her eyes; her eyelids fluttered and she let out a small moan. Finally after a few seconds, though they seemed to be made of lead, Natsumi's eyes began to open slightly. Her vision blurred a few times before focusing, and she slowly opened them further, to see Koyuki and her space alien frog friend Dororo staring at her. Natsumi looked up at Koyuki; the ninja's face was red from the crying, and her eyes were bleary and bloodshot. Koyuki looked back at her for a minute and then began frantically,

"Natsumi! You're awake!"

Natsumi nodded and glanced about the room to observe where she was; she was in Koyuki's small cabin-like house; the brown wooden walls enclosed around them in a small little abode, with two beds in the corner and a few other small things. Since they were poor and also training, they found this dwelling to their liking. Natsumi then looked around where they were gathered, and found that she was lying in a small, makeshift bed next to something that resembled a hearth. There was a fire going as Dororo was preparing chicken and rice. She looked down at her aching arm and noticed that it was wrapped up in a thick, gauze-like material and kept in a sling around her neck made of the same material. Her eyes traveled from her arm to the blankets that covered her and realized that her foot was also wrapped up in gauze, though she could not see it at the moment.

After a few minutes of glancing around, Natsumi attempted to sit up, and yelped in pain as her ribs and arm began to throb. Koyuki gently pushed her back down onto the bed and told her softly,

"Don't get up; you're severely injured"

Natsumi gritted her teeth and raised her left hand to her head, which she discovered was also wrapped up. She took her hand off and looked at Koyuki in confusion; however, it only took her a few seconds before the memories of the fall came flooding back to her mind, which caused a major headache. She groaned and then sat up again. Koyuki gently grabbed Natsumi's shoulders and repeated her warning.

"Natsumi, lie back down. You're in no shape to get up"

But Natsumi ignored her warning and looked up into her best friend's eyes, trying to choke back the painful cries that were trying to escape her throat.

"You…a-are you okay Koyuki…?" She asked, her voice hoarse. It was now Koyuki's turn to be confused; she raised an eyebrow at her until Natsumi took a shaky breath and rephrased her sentence.

"W-were _you_ injured…i-in the fall…?" Natsumi's eyes began to well up. Koyuki stared at her hard and shook her head, tears forming in her own eyes.

"No, hun. I'm not b-but-"

She was cut off short when Natsumi suddenly hugged her, ignoring the pain in her ribs and arm. The pink haired girl's left arm wrapped around Koyuki's body as best she could and she buried her face in Koyuki's shoulder, shaking violently.

"Thank goodness…I was so scared…I d-didn't know what to do…I…I'm g-glad you're okay…" Natsumi whimpered as she began to cry. Koyuki was surprised by the sudden tears and her heart broke again to hear the pain in her crush's voice. Silent drops fell from Koyuki's own eyes, and she unwrapped Natsumi's arm around her and instead put her own around Natsumi gently, being careful not to hurt her. Natsumi opened her eyes a little and looked up at Koyuki, who looked back down at her and began tearfully,

"I'm sorry Natsumi…I…I couldn't protect you…and you got hurt…a-and…oh, Natsumi please forgive me…I'm so sorry" she hung her head as she began to cry louder. Natsumi stared at her for a while, and then placed her working hand on Koyuki's face and wiped the tears away with her thumb.

"Don't be sorry Koyuki...y-you saved me; you helped fix me up…" she smiled a little and kissed her on the cheek, "thank you…"

Koyuki's face blushed heavily and a small smile appeared on her face. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, threatening to burst out of it. Koyuki unconsciously inched closer to Natsumi's face as did Natsumi to hers. The two girls' faces were bright red, the color of a chili pepper, and they felt just as hot as one. Finally, after long, agonizing minutes, the two got very close to each other and they both pressed their lips to one another's. Koyuki was a little shocked, but she lowly closed her eyes and pressed closer as they kissed. Natsumi's heartbeat skyrocketed and her head spun; she felt lighter than air, and she knew that she did love Koyuki very much.

The two girls stayed intertwined together, their lips locked to each other's, for several minutes before Dororo walked across the room and casually murmured,

"Do you two need to be alone?"

The girls immediately broke apart and giggled in embarrassment. Koyuki smiled at her best friend, and Natsumi smiled back at her sheepishly. The ninja gently pushed her back onto the bed and quietly told her, "You should get some rest, Natsumi. If you want to eat, I'll wake you up when it is ready"

"Thank you Koyuki, but…" Natsumi broke up, uneasy at the request she was going to ask.

Koyuki urged her on, "Yes?"

"But, uh…w-would you...lay with me, for a little bit?" she looked up at Koyuki with innocent eyes that made Koyuki's heart melt all over again. She blushed again and nodded, "S-sure…"

Koyuki awkwardly crawled underneath the blankets and pulled them up and over the two girls as she settled in the bed with Natsumi. She snuggled underneath, facing Natsumi, and wrapped her arms around the girl, who in return, cuddled closer to her and rested her head under Koyuki's.

She whispered, "I love you Koyuki"

Koyuki felt her heart jolt and then proceed pounding again as she cleared her throat and smiled.

"I love you too Natsumi…" she replied, closing her eyes and holding Natsumi close to her body, feeling the warmth from her friend enclose around them both. The two girls slept like that for a long time, cuddling close together, the events of the day gone from their thoughts at the moment.

All they could think about was each other…and the love that they shared…


End file.
